Stephan HANNE | EUIPO | 21/07/2020

New types of designs

SOME EXAMPLES

Icons

Displays

Projected images

Holographics

Virtual spaces

A BASIC DISTINCTION

Graphicaluser

interfaces(GUIs)

Virtual reality

STATISTICS – RCD FIGURES

Source: Filitz/Henkel/Ohnemus, Digital Design Protection in Europe: Law, Trends, and Emerging Issues

STATISTICS – TOP 10 Classes for International registrations

VIRTUAL MIGRATION – THREE CHARACTERISTICS

VIRTUAL MIGRATION

• 3D product to 2D graphic or virtual space

• No physical embodiment

• Often fluid features (animation, interactive)

STATUTORY DEFINITIONS

(a) "design" means the appearance of the whole or a part of aproduct resulting from the features of, in particular, the lines,contours, colours, shape, texture and/or materials of theproduct itself and/or its ornamentation;(b) "product" means any industrial or handicraft item,including inter alia parts intended to be assembled into acomplex product, packaging, get-up, graphic symbols andtypographic typefaces, but excluding computer programs;

VIRTUAL MIGRATION – LEGAL ISSUES

• 3D product to 2D graphic or virtual space

Design

Product Graphic Space

VIRTUAL MIGRATION – LEGAL ISSUES

Space

(Source: https://www.landmarkusa.com/vr)

VIRTUAL MIGRATION – LEGAL ISSUES

• No physical embodiment

- Partial design

- Product indication

VIRTUAL MIGRATION – LEGAL ISSUES

• Often fluid features (animation, interactive)

- Subject-matter of protection?

- Formal representation requirements

FORMAL REPRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS - ANIMATION

Registered Community designs: Static views only

MORE EXAMPLES

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International studies and recommendations

• ID5 “Study of practices on protection of new technological designs”(http://id-five.org/study-of-practices-on-protection-of-new-technological-designs/?red=finished-project)

• WIPO SCT/37/2 “Analysis of the Returns to the Questionnaire on Graphical User Interface (GUI), Icon and Typeface/Type Font Designs”(https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=365358)

International studies and recommendations

• WIPO SCT/42/6 “Proposal by the delegations of Japan and the USA for a joint recommendation: Industrial design protection for graphical user interface (GUI) designs”(https://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/doc_details.jsp?doc_id=454505)

• ID5 “Catalogue of Partial Design Protection”(http://id-five.org/comparative-study-of-partial-designs-as-effective-means-of-protection-industrial-design-innovation/

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